Brian Beise (Books Ningmaster)'s Blog – December 2011 Archive (7)
The Nook: Reading and Having Books
Listen, Jena, I’ve really been enjoying the Nook I got for Christmas (thanks, Mam and Dad). Three dollars and five minutes got all Mark Twain’s books onto this little eReader. I love our apartment full of actual books, though, so I thought I should figure out whether or not eReaders are going to ruin books. Also I photographed my newly organized library. You married into this.
Maybe the internet crippled the music industry,…
ContinueAdded by Brian Beise (Books Ningmaster) on December 28, 2011 at 8:30am — 7 Comments
Six Merry Facts about "A Christmas Carol"
Listen, Jena, I know I’ve gone on about Charles Dickens a bit this month, but it’s Christmas time, and no writer helps us define and celebrate the season like Dickens. So here are six interesting facts about his miniature masterpiece, A Christmas Carol.
- Dickens wrote the book in just two months (October and November, 1843).
- The first printing of 6,000 copies sold out in days.
- Within six weeks of its publication on December 19, 1843,…
Added by Brian Beise (Books Ningmaster) on December 20, 2011 at 10:00am — No Comments
Mrs. Charles Dickens vs. Me
Listen, Jena, if you get around to reading this entry, it won’t be because the title pulled you in. It’ll be because you love me, for some reason. This got me thinking about writing and mortality, and made me wonder; who’s better suited to enjoy Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol: his wife Catherine, or me?
Dickens dabbled in mesmerism. He was an actor, a philanthropist, a maker of amazing punch, and able to read his works aloud so effectively that women…
ContinueAdded by Brian Beise (Books Ningmaster) on December 14, 2011 at 8:30am — No Comments
G.K. Chesterton and my Xbox 360
Listen, Jena. I know you’re looking at a picture of that video game you hate so much, and it might seem I'm going to rant about it, but I’m really going to talk about honor, courage, Lancelot fighting King Arthur, and a chapter from G.K. Chesterton’s book, “What’s Wrong with the World.”
Despite its futuristic setting, the combat in “Halo” is less like real contemporary warfare than the battles and epic duels of the middle ages. When knights in armor ruled the…
ContinueAdded by Brian Beise (Books Ningmaster) on December 7, 2011 at 2:00pm — No Comments
"A Christmas Carol" and Failure
Listen Jena, whenever I glance at the manuscript of my novel, it does me good to remember that Isaac Newton believed in ghosts, that he tried and failed to prove their existence, and that his successes overshadowed his failures. 
Still, if one of the 8th graders I used to teach heard that genius scientist believed in ghosts, they'd surely answer with a sharp "fail!" That recently popular insult among kids and stupid adults is often enough to discourage…
ContinueAdded by Brian Beise (Books Ningmaster) on December 6, 2011 at 12:00pm — No Comments
Narnia and "Inception"
Listen, Jena. Cobb’s revelation at the end of Inception reminds me in a very geeky way of Puddleglum’s victory over the Emerald Witch in The Silver Chair, book four of C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia. I think each scene might shed light on the other.
Spoilers follow.
Even if There’s No Aslan
At the climax of The Silver Chair, deep in an underground country, the…
ContinueAdded by Brian Beise (Books Ningmaster) on December 6, 2011 at 6:30am — No Comments
Worth Living, Worth Reading
Listen, Jena, fame is no reason to write a book. Being Michael Caine is, though, and his autobiography The Elephant to Hollywood is a cozy collection of anecdotes spread across a varied and fantastic acting career. Get the audio book. It’s not the same without that voice.
Socrates…
ContinueAdded by Brian Beise (Books Ningmaster) on December 5, 2011 at 1:30pm — No Comments
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